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Monday, November 20, 2017

Believe in My Heart

Congratulations to "Odette", the winner in Maria's giveaway. Thank you to all who participated!

This holiday, love is on the menu.

Culinary arts student, Hope Mastriano, is down on her luck.
Homeless on Thanksgiving Day, she’s caught trying to break into her cousin’s
apartment by her sexy boss and lifelong secret crush.

Since getting dumped seven months ago, head chef Vinnie
DiFrancesco has been in a frustrating holding pattern. He returns relaxed from
a retreat, but his life is sent into a tailspin when he offers Hope, the event
coordinator at his family’s trattoria, temporary housing.

With the trattoria’s traditional Italian Christmas Eve charity
dinner slated to be featured on a local TV segment and things heating up in his
apartment, the two must set aside their different visions to make the event a
success. When a computer glitch threatens their plans, Hope proposes a risky
solution. Vinnie must believe in Hope and his heart in order to secure the
future of the restaurant and make it a Christmas to remember.

The snow had tapered to a light flurry, and
the inch on top of what was already there was enough to disguise the shabbiness
of the faded brick building.

He jogged up the stairs to the fifth floor.
Turning into the main hall, Vinnie made his way toward his apartment while
digging in his pocket for the key and almost collided with three suitcases and
a stack of boxes blocking his path.

Someone was moving out…or in, given the
person was fiddling with the lock—with a hanger. He had moved in a couple days
before his trip to California and hadn’t met any neighbors, but he did recall
seeing a tall blonde woman walking out of this apartment one morning as he came
in from his morning jog. This one was a few inches over five feet, and although
he couldn’t see much, dark hair peeked out of the white knit cap on her head.

He knew that voice. “If that’s the case,
why don’t you call the super?”

“My phone’s dead, and I don’t have his
number.”

Vinnie pulled out his phone. “Then it’s a
good thing I have it. I’ll give him a buzz.”

“No!” she cried and turned to face him.

Wide brown eyes framed by long brown lashes
stared up at him.

“Hope?”

She pushed back the cap and brushed aside
the bangs that fell into her eyes. “Vinnie. Funny meeting you here.”

“Same goes. You don’t live here,” Vinnie countered,
surprised to be faced with one of the pantry chefs from where he worked.

Hope raised her hands. “I know how this
looks, but I can explain.”

“You can explain why you’re trying to break
into this apartment?”

“It’s my cousin Faith’s place. And I wasn’t
breaking in.”

Vinnie raised an eyebrow and shifted his
gaze to the hanger on the ground.

“Okay, so maybe it seems as though I was
breaking in, but the key she gave me no longer works.” She reached in her coat
pocket and withdrew a key similar to Vinnie’s.

“Did you try calling your cousin?”

“Gee, no, I didn’t think of that,” she
sneered. “She’s on a cruise and then staying in Florida a few days for business.
I wasn’t kidding about my phone dying and not knowing the super’s number.”

Vinnie felt a pain in his temple. Probably
from not having enough to eat or drink on the red-eye from LA. “Fine, let’s get
your stuff in my place. You can use my phone.”

Hope grabbed a handle of a suitcase.
“Thanks, Vin. You’re nicer than people at work say.”

He paused while unlocking his door. Well,
hell. Is that what they say about me? Guess he needed to do damage control with
his staff. Even though his parents owned Trattoria DiFrancesco, Vinnie was the
head chef and in charge of hiring of anyone who worked in the kitchen.

Including the pretty spitfire who had just
swept past him, Hope Mastriano.

He hoisted the stack of boxes and followed
her inside. When she headed back out, he perused the hall to see how much more
stuff she had.

There were two more suitcases and a pet
carrier.

“You run away or something?” Vinnie asked.

“Moved out of Steve’s place. I’m done with
that deadbeat.”

“On Thanksgiving Day and with nowhere to
go?”

“It’s been long overdue. Besides, I thought
I could crash at Faith’s until I figured out my next step.”

“And in there?” He nodded to the carrier.

Hope raised it up a few inches. “This is
Lucky, my cat.”

Vinnie was not a fan of cats, with their
sharp eyes and sneaky ways. He peeked inside and into the green eyes of a white
cat. He closed the front door and stepped around Hope’s stuff, including the
cat, which she pulled out of the carrier. Lucky leaned forward and sniffed him before
letting out a soft mew.

Between the pixie-haired cutie and the cat,
the peace and relaxation he had found out west was a distant memory. By the
time he got to the trattoria for Thanksgiving dinner, Vinnie was going to need
a beer or glass of wine.

Possibly both.

About Maria K. Alexander

Maria K. Alexander is an award-winning author of Contemporary
Romance. When not writing, Maria loves to read, bake, downhill ski, visit the
beach, and watch romantic comedies. Maria lives in New Jersey with her husband
and children, and writes in her “spare” time between juggling a full-time job
and her kids’ busy schedules. You can keep in touch with Maria at http://mariakalexander.com.

Name one food you look forward to indulging in over the
holidays. One winner will get a digital copy of BELIEVE IN MY HEART.

Giveaway ends 11:59pm EST Nov. 21st. Please supply your email in the post. You may use spaces or full text for security. (ex. jsmith at gmail dot com) If you do not wish to supply your email, or have trouble posting, please email maureen@JustContemporaryRomance.com with a subject title of JCR GIVEAWAY to be entered in the current giveaway. US residents ONLY.

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